[OOC] The Birth of Naroe ~{(!-!)}~

[culot]

On it, boss!

[culot]

Okay, here's what I have so far! Sorry that it's rough and maybe a bit overboard in some parts. I did my best to give the Mist an interesting and well-thought-out history, and to think through their strengths and weaknesses as a group. I welcome any feedback from anyone :)

The Mist

Overview

The Mist is a cult of approximately ninety elven druids living in the foothills of the continent's northern mountain range. Their religion is animistic. They disapprove of departures from the natural order such as urbanization, technology, and even domestication. The members of the Mist live singly, in pairs, or in small family groups, gathering for seasonal celebrations and to defend their territory, which they guard jealously. Their archers and fire mages are renowned in the region, and the cult has become regionally infamous for the spectacular arson of a medium-sized town that was sending raiding parties after their members. The cult has joined with a nearby tribe of treants for military purposes.

Core Beliefs

The Mist are fiercely individualistic, valuing self-sufficiency and freedom above all. The cult live alone or in small groups most of the year, except for seasonal gatherings for the sharing of non-urgent news, worship, and games of skill and strength. The cult will also gather in order to defend the group's territory; jurisdiction over one's own land is considered sacred, especially when outsiders are involved.

The religion of the Mist is animistic, emphasizing the worship of and dialogue with nature spirits small and large. These spirits inhabit trees, streams, hills, animals, and other entities of the natural world.

As a druidic order, the Mist despise civilization, urbanization, technology, the domestication of animals, and other aberrations from the natural order. Members will go out of their way to destroy these abominations when possible and practical, although they do not typically venture outside of their claimed territory to do so.

Magic

The Mist practice druidic magic, including the expected suite of nature-focused magic. Practitioners may share special bonds with animals or bend trees and plants to their will. The Mist sustains itself by hunting and magically-supplemented gathering of edible plants.

The Mist's most infamous offensive magic is their ability to command fire. Early cultists (80 years before present) were nearly killed off by forest fires set by invaders; therefore, the ability to extinguish and redirect fire is especially prized among the Mist. Many among the Mist bear burn scars due to the practice of this art. Experts at elemental fire magic are unlikely to be skilled in traditional druidic magic due to the intense training required to master fire.

Fighting Style

Mist warriors prioritize stealth due to their few numbers. Armor is well-camouflaged for their forest environs, and as elves are naturally lightfooted, they tend to have good success with guerrilla tactics when fighting in their home territory. Familiarity with the terrain is key to these tactics, however, so when they are forced to fight in unfamiliar areas they can have difficulty organizing and conducting attacks. If the element of surprise is lost, or if Mist warriors are forced to fight in rigid formations, their fighting abilities suffer significantly.

A Mist warrior crafts his or her own armor, under the tutelage of an experienced elder, using primarily wood and leather.

Non-mage fighters are typically archers, armed with cult-made longbows and a long knife.

History

The cult was founded by a group of six elven druids about eighty years before present (B.P.) who believed that existing societies, elven and human, had been corrupted by disregard for the natural state of the world. The Mist found a home in the foothills of the Northern Mountain Range, and soon attracted a modest following of like-minded druids. Their communal gathering place was in a great valley, so the cult named itself the Mist: for the mist vanishes in its mysterious way, but gathers in the low places when the season is right.

Word of the cult's activity spread after a few years to the nearby towns. The cult's practice of slaughtering domesticated animals (as abominations against nature) led to wildly speculative rumors of demonic pacts and animal sacrifice. Militias from these settlements joined to burn the cultists out; the dry forest with its abundant underbrush was overdue for a serious fire. The blaze claimed many cult members' lives.

The remaining cultists appealed to the reclusive treants living in nearby territory. The treants, concerned about their own dwindling numbers, extended an alliance to the cultists on the condition that a treant would be the chief of the joint tribes. Despite the elven belief that it is undignified for an elven society to be led by a non-elf, the cultists accepted this proposition.

The Mist, due to their practice of killing travellers and settlers near their territory, attracted the ire of a few nearby towns which were the sources of these expeditions. Beginning 50 years before present, bounties were set on the lives of Mist members, causing groups of adventurers and small raiding parties to incurse on Mist territory, claiming the lives of several cult members. The Mist responded by burning the nearest town to the ground in 48 B.P., and killing as many fleeing townspeople as possible, as retribution not only for the recent bounty murders but also for the Great Fire three decades earlier.

This was considered an act of war by the confederation of towns and small cities in the region, which assembled an offensive force to wipe out the cultists once and for all in 47 B.P. The resultant series of battles devastated the Mist and the treants, but they eventually carried the day and drove the invaders out of their territory, having killed two in three of the enemies soldiers while losing half of their own. In this final battle, the treant chief was killed.

Despite the victory, the heavy losses led to high tensions between the treants and the Mist. A new treant chief was chosen: Noor, over 200 years old, was not the oldest of the treants, but her skill in diplomacy and great wisdom was judged to be vital in this tumultuous time.

After the war against the confederacy of human towns, the cult swelled again in numbers as druids across the region heard of their victory and their unswerving dedication to nature and their beliefs. Since that time, the cult has weathered internal religious disputes of varying severity and fluctuating dissatisfaction with treant control of the cult, but has experienced relative peace with its other neighbors.

However, as the great battles become a more distant memory. young members of the Mist are becoming bolder in venturing forth into new territory, and human explorers and settlers are gingerly probing the limits of proximity that the Mist will allow.

[Medjedovic]

The Tricrescent

My Hider

The Tricrescent assassination unit is the remnant of the ancient and much bigger organization which was destroyed in the incident between Drow and a certain surface kingdom. The Crimson Crescent, that was the name of the organization, was a powerful assassin’s guild which trained orphaned Drow children to become messengers of death in the name of the Drow dominion. The training and initiation tests were excruciating so many children died before they ever got a chance to receive their first mission, but this only ensured that the ones who remained were the best of the best.

The three children who would eventually become the Tricrescent were accepted into training after their family was forced to give them away in order to repay a debt incurred upon them by their failed attempt at Drow politics. They were siblings and as such the grandmasters of the guild decided to train them to act as one unit, where each child would cover the weaknesses of other two. This approach showed great results and, if the guild continued to exist, they would probably have risen to great fame and influence in the Drow society.

Alas, some twenty years ago, the Drow attempted a raid on a surface kingdom. They used the Crimson Crescent to locate and eliminate all the influential people in the capital so that once the main force’s offensive began the kingdom would be unable to defend due to chaos. This approach might’ve worked if the party of powerful adventurers wasn’t in the capital at that time. The adventurers managed not only to prevent the deaths of most important targets of the Crimson Crescent, but found a way to reach the realms of Drow and the surface kingdom began to counterstrike.

After a period of bitter fighting the adventurers managed to slay the Drow princess who organized and led the assault on the surface kingdom. The other Drow, deciding to cut their losses, blamed the entire incident on that noble and the Crimson Crescent, allowing the guild to be destroyed by the adventurers as a “gift” of reconciliation. Most assassins were killed and few that survived were banished from Drow dominion. The three siblings were among the survivors.

With the destruction of the guild and their banishment the three not only lost any chance at gaining status among Drow, but they also lost the only place they could call home. With rage seething inside them the three swore revenge against the adventurers responsible for their guild’s destruction. They’ll use every skill taught to them by the masters of the Crimson Crescent to find and kill each adventurer, one by one, until there’s none left.

They named their unit “the Tricrescent” as a reminder of their roots. Don’t misunderstand, though. The three don’t seek revenge for some sentimental reason such as “to avenge fallen comrades”. No, they want to make a show of their strength. If they eliminate the party which the whole guild couldn’t their fame would spread throughout the world, and not only Drow, but powerful people in every nation in the world would seek their skill.

For years, the Tricrescent has been hunting down the adventurers. They also did assassinations on the side for money. Now, their revenge is nearly complete and their fame is already beginning to spread far and wide. Ivan Tanner, the last surviving member of the heroic party of adventurers, is in the city of Berlena. Just one more piece and the first great mission of the Tricrescent will be complete.

Khoros Undarsal

My Hider

The oldest sibling, Khoros is ruthlessly pragmatic. He is both the brain and the brawn of the trio, the one who evaluates and accepts contracts, concocts plans for assassinations and makes sure that the younger, mentally unstable siblings don’t do something that all three would regret. Khoros is ready to trample over anything and anyone to achieve his goals. No promise is too sacred, no bond too great. None, that is, except for the blood bong to his siblings, for which he’d go the end of the world to save.

Tall and muscular, Khoros possesses what you’d call a stereotypical fighter’s appearance. He keeps his hair trimmed short and has a scar going from his left ear across his cheek to the left edge of his mouth. His face rarely shows emotions and when it does it looks like he’s just badly imitating something he saw others do. He speaks calmly with an icy voice which he never raises unless there’s practical need to (when there is noise in the surroundings, for example, to make sure he’s heard).

Khoros is master of melee combat. He’s fond of using sword and shield, but he’s familiar with almost any melee weapon. He’s not above fighting dirty and regularly coats his weapons in various poisons his brother Ivazzu makes. Even weaponless he is not an easy target in close quarters combat as he is proficient in martial arts. His strength and reflexes are excellent, but you wouldn’t really call him a strength-oriented person.

Yirvene Undarsal

My Hider

The middle sibling, Yirvene, is, shortly put, a psychopath. Bloodthirsty without limit, she loves to see her victims suffer. Unlike Khoros, who uses poison to end the fight quickly and make sure the target is dead, Yirvene coats her arrows and daggers in poison which would put those afflicted in as much pain as possible. She doesn’t hold affection for anyone, not out of pragmatism, but simply because she is sadistic sociopath. In fact, the only reason she still sticks around her siblings is because their current goals are the same and due to her fear of Khoros. Once Ivan is dead gods only know what she’ll do.

Yirvene’s hair is shaped in punk style, with left side of her head clearly shaven while the hair on the right is shoulder length, with few braids. Her bangs, combed rightwards, cover the right side of her face. This is less out of Yirvene’s sense of fashion and more to hide the hideous scar she got after grandmaster spilled hot oil over her as a punishment for insubordination. Yirvene tried to dye her hair, but for some reason the colour didn’t stick and now she only has few purple strands. Her body is athletic, with well shaped muscles. Her emotions are always clear from her behavior. Whether she’s happy or angry, you’ll know it

Yirvene is master of bow and arrow and expert with daggers. She also knows few low levels spells to increase accuracy and deadliness of her arrows, as well as to improve her ability to hide. She is also the best of the three at stealth and larceny. Lastly, she’s the group’s torturer, a position she is immensely proud of.

Ivazzu Undarsal

My Hider

Due to the constant bullying and abuse at the hands of Yirvene, the youngest sibling Ivazzu grew to be shy and introverted. However he also developed an irrational drive for self-preservation which manifests when he feels threatened. He will start acting crazy and grow violent against the object of his fears to the point of forsaking all other goals. This makes him the least predictable out of all three siblings and often Khoros had to re-think his plans due to Ivazzu’s outbursts messing them up. When he isn’t suffering one of his episodes, Ivazzu likes to read books and play with his pet rat Kovot, whom he considers his best and only friend.

At first glance thin and weak due to always keeping his head down and avoiding contact with others, Ivazzu’s body is actually quite athletic and sufficiently fit for anything his job as an assassin might demand him to do. His hair is long and unkept. His body is covered in tattoos painted with special magic-infused ink which boosts the power of his spells. When he speaks it is in a low tone and he often stutters, unless he is suffering one of his episodes when he becomes loud and speaks fluidly.

Ivazzu is a necromancer, though he is less concerned with raising the dead and speaking to ghost, and is more adept at creating magical diseases, inflicting wounds upon enemies, weakening them and using the life-force from their blood to heal himself and his allies. Aside from magic Ivazzu is good with alchemy and he regularly concocts poisons and explosives for his siblings to use. He is also good at handling animals.

Here are the Drow. My formating might suck, I'm still getting used to the controls on this forum.

[GoddessSophia]

@Pripovednik Okay, I'll get on it when I can

[Pripovednik]

@culot Read the whole thing with a smile on my face, really love it! Now if your up for it, a complete opposite. A group of dark dwarves (deep dwarves) -Evil - who persue warforged warfare(look it up) by creating and controlling said warforged to do their bidding. A group of no more than 15 with a handful of them being cult orc warlocks who do the whole bringing to life thing. Leader is a cowardly but genius engineer. Fatten it up!:P

They hate nature as they live underground (given) and love industry etc. average deep dwarf.

[GoddessSophia]

Alright :) I managed to crank something out already. Let me know if it needs changing or if you want something added :)

Maidens of Freyden

Maidens of Freyden, are a group of 60 women fighters in Nareo. They consider themselves as equals, therefore they do not have a leader like most cults, clans or tribes in Nareo. They are rather protective of one another; but there had been times before the Present days, that one or two of the Maidens betrayed the others. They ended up being banished out of the Clan, and punished severely. Since those tyrant days, they have been going strong and their numbers grew over the last few years since the incidents.
The Maidens of Freyden, live in the village of Mallowmerrow. The Village it-self is small and secluded from most of civilizations. They prefer the peace and quiet, away from the bustle of the city and too many people in one place. They do not have many acquaintances and allies due to separation, and luck of trust from outsiders. Some of the Maidens make their living through making their own arts and crafts and selling it, at the weekly market. Whilst some run a farm; making them all very self sufficient. Men are forbidden to enter their village, without their consent. The Maidens are used to being, away from the other Genders as they have grown up like that. As far as they can remember, they never mixed with others too much.
They were Armour, to protect themselves in a fight. Some of them also have a shield to accompany the Armour. They mostly use Batons, knives, Swords (from curved to short), Axes, even hammers when they are engaging in a fight and hand to hand combat.
The Maidens of Freyden are each of a Cleric Class. They believe they have been granted special powers by the Gods. They possess the abilities to heal their wounds, protect their allies and can resurrect the dead, and manipulate in all sorts of ways, banish the un-dead as well.

The Maidens of Freyden first formed about 500 years ago; The first and Original Maidens were not as loyal to one another. They were constantly at war with one another, killing each other off which caused the group to almost seize out of existence over the centuries. However it’s been a curse, that has always been passed down onto future generations. Now slowly in the present dying out.
However the challenges of trying to remain loyal to each other is a hard one for each and every member involved. (The Curse still exists). Some of them have been said, to being haunted by the Ghosts of their ancestors, the killings...the fear and the betrayal slowly turning them insane. The fear they might end up like them, is rooted within their clan, their destiny and past. There is no escaping that. Lately the curse, has another affect on the Maidens of Freyden. Any time they see a handsome male walk past, or try to enter their village They fall in love with them at first sight. At times, it happens that maybe two or three happen to see the same man at the same time; which causes bloody feuds and fights among them.
The Maidens of Freyden are each tough, and skilled warriors. They are not afraid to be different...fight like men. Some people of Naroe look down upon them for being too man-ish. But the women themselves are proud to live like Pagans and Vikings in this time. They show no mercy, they show no fear when it comes to being in battles and killing their enemies.

[Pripovednik]

@Medjedovic Awesome! Really like it, this will be great in the IC when it opens! I'm thinking you could split it into three sections, so that you can see it three each of their eyes, would be super cool

[Pripovednik]

@GoddessSophia Looking brilliant! Although I would give them better weapons than sticks you know? Also, the curse;
Try to make it something else, the history of feuds within the group is fine, but maybe its becuase of a curse that makes them fall in love with men at first sight, leading to bloody arguements if two saw the same man. Perhaps explains their seclusion, could also add in that they do not alow men into the village?.. I dunno

[GoddessSophia]

@Pripovednik Alright, thanks for the tip. I'll edit.

[Pripovednik]

@GoddessSophia Hate giving critisms to imagination, sounds so ungrateful.
I'm not. Just would be a hard curse to work with.

[GoddessSophia]

@Pripovednik It sounded more planned out in my head and like it could work, I guess to me it works..sorry it didn't come out that way with the first post.

[ArenaSnow]

Right, well, might as well throw something out for me as IC posts have been sorely lacking so far elsewhere.

[Pripovednik]

@ArenaSnow Begin on your own character? :)

[ArenaSnow]

Aha...

[Pripovednik]

@ArenaSnow What? xD

[Medjedovic]

@PripovednikI am not sure I understand what you're asking of me mate :D

Though I guess it something about picture, I must say my paint skills aren't really that great lol.

[nrtashi]

What is the size of this island? From everything people have posted so far, everything seems to be pretty micro...
But I...you know...I have a dream. A dream of Kingdom. And if that's too large, perhaps a fortress, a city, or expeditionary force belonging to some kingdom on the continent. A militarized, fanatical, warlike peoples. Worshiping one God of darkness and smokeless fire, they do. Racist, they are. On a crusade to establish order and rid this land of all filth, evil and impurity, by word or by sword. Divine magic they use, to strengthen their own and weaken their foes.
Democracy, they don't know. A single leader they have, be it a King, a General or a Patriarch of some sorts. Order is their national value, and from this, organized religion and almost caste-like feudal system follows. Science they dislike, books they burn. Forests they chop, ores they mine, monuments and temples they build. Mighty temples of steel and stone, towering over tiny huts of ordinary citizens, inspiring faith in the believer, and fear in the heretic....

So, so, what do you think about this dream of mine? Want me to write something from that?

[Pripovednik]

@MedjedovicNo it's fine! Never mind

[Pripovednik]

@nrtashisounds like a kingdom from the rest of the world (Naroe is only an island on a vast world - but still large. ) go for it. I welcome your imagination,and make sure you have some sort of presence in Naroe.

[Medjedovic]

So, got something else for me to do?